Review: ES & FLO, Kiln Theatre

There are some things we don’t see enough in theatre. A few of these are stories about women who love women and roles for older female-identifying actors. When these two come together, beauty often happens. Es & Flo is exactly this.

Written by Jennifer Lunn, it follows as dementia threatens the life Es has built with Flo. Their love story is a stark reminder of the legacy carried by senior members of the LGBTQ+ community and a testimony of the survivors who fought for those rights that are still under threat today. It’s also a harrowing celebration of lesbian romance.

We meet Es and Flo on Es’ birthday. Flo is making a big fuss of her and they’re simply adorable. They dance and snog and joke in their lesbian bliss, but our face-splitting grin is quickly wiped away. Es’ “forgetfulness’’ is a foreshadowing of what’s coming. Enter Beata and Kasia, the loving carer paid by Es’ estranged son Peter and her daughter. Directed by Susie McKenna, the production is a tender, multi-faceted look at queer resistance, chosen family, and womanhood.

Liz Crowther and Doreene Blackstock share atomic chemistry as the couple. They flirt shamelessly and love ardently, but the cracks that have plagued their character’s relationship since the moment they met threaten to break them apart over three decades later. They still bear the scars of Section 28. After Es left her abusive husband, her involvement at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp (a series of protests against nuclear weapons) led to a life of secrecy with Flo due to her job as a teacher. Like for many non-fictional lesbian women and gay men, it was impossible for them to be out safely.

This side of the narrative trickles through with Blackstock recoiling at Crowther’s every public display of tenderness. From subtle humour to drastic shifts in her micro-expressions, Flo jumps off the page in a complex performance with extraordinary physical language at its foundations. Crowther’s Es is equally remarkable as she fluctuates between the strength of a proud political activist and the fragility of a 71-year-old with Alzheimer’s. McKenna directs with tact and sensitivity, unafraid of tipping into indirect comedy and tense drama.

The main pair are supported by the exceptional Adrianna Pavlovska, whose initial shrillness and patronising addresses swiftly turns into selfless defence. Beata adds another element in this eclectic array of outcasts. A single-mother from Catholic Poland who now lives in Cardiff, her family is unaware of Kasia. Played with clockwork panache by Chioma Nduka on press night, the little one ends up being the catalyst for the unhappy happy ending. They’re joined by Michelle McTernan as Es’ immediately unlikeable daughter-in-law. 

Her redeeming arc comes as a surprise and it’s further testament to Lunn’s storytelling verve. Es & Flo doesn’t merely introduce a slice of lesbian history, it gently proposes the lasting effects of domestic violence on the victims and their children. While we never see Peter, his personality, trauma, and ultimate abusive tendencies seep through remarks and subtext. Lunn’s not-so-veiled criticism of the government’s response to homosexuality is valid for male behaviour too.

Designer LIBBY WATSON furnishes their world with warm, earthy hues and souvenirs from their travels. Lonely Planet books fill their shelves while colourful throws cover their sitting room. The realism of their home cools down to a chilling blue when the set expands suddenly, a stark contrast to the comfort we see below. It’s a visual treat. 

The play gets so many things right that it’s difficult to find its flaws at the start. The characters are fairly stereotypical in the sense that they’re exactly what we might expect a fictional ageing lesbian couple to be. The trend of having queer people suffer for the benefit of a storyline can also be flagged, as well as the Polish cleaner trope. While not irrelevant per se, this doesn't take away from outcome of the project.

The text is a heartbreaking joy and the company a full-bodied success. The production fills a gap and it’s an exceptional example of what we need to stage more: female stories told by women, directed by women, with a team of mostly women. In essence, more women in theatre, please.

Es & Flo runs at the Kiln theatre until 24 June.

Photo credit: Kirsten McTernan

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